Media-shy Jacques Nienaber thrust into spotlight as Springbok coach

If Jacques Nienaber, who was named as Rassie Erasmus’ replacement as Springbok coach on Friday, needed an omen regarding how his new role might play out, it happened in the very room in which the announcement was made.

“I said when we walked in here that when we [the Free State Cheetahs] won the Currie Cup in 2005, our team room was the same room where we just had the press conference,” said Nienaber at the Southern Sun Hotel in Pretoria on Friday.

“Never would I have thought in 2005 that I would have been announced as the [Springbok] head coach here.”

While his appointment was expected – the speculation began as early as October, when his rush defence was presenting opposition attacks with nothing but blind alleys en route to helping the Boks become world champions – it has still been an improbable rise for Nienaber.

His previous roles in rugby teams included being a physiotherapist, and a strength, conditioning and defence coach.

His lack of head coaching credentials, as well as the fact that the post was not advertised to see what big-name international coaches the newly minted world champions might attract, have rankled in some quarters.

Nienaber, who will be assisted by Deon Davids, Mzwandile Stick, Daan Human and Felix Jones, said he understood the concerns: “When people say it’s a massive risk because I haven’t been a head coach before, they’re probably right. I can’t argue, I haven’t been a head coach before. But I’m not stupid – I understand that this might be a risk for me and the organisation.

“We have discussed how we’re going to manage that. But I wouldn’t have accepted the job if I didn’t think I could do it.”

The 47-year-old father of two said having his old and new boss Erasmus – who will have such a hands-on role as director of rugby that he will be in the coach’s box – as his colleague, as well as players whose progress he’s been involved in since they were juniors, would go a long way towards helping him bridge the gap between defence coach and head coach.

SA Rugby president Mark Alexander explained the rationale behind not advertising the position: “The key thing for us was continuity and succession. When Rassie was appointed two years ago, those were the key principles we had in place. What happens every four years is that we go out, advertise, get a new coach in and change all the systems.

“This brings in a lot of confusion and it takes a lot of time for the players to settle down. We’ve gone through this ever since we entered the World Cup, and this will be the first time we’ll have continuity after the World Cup.”

Nienaber’s path to the top rugby job began in a manner as unorthodox as his ascension to the Bok coach post.

Having failed to secure a place in university to study physiotherapy because his marks in matric were not good enough, the Kimberley-born and Welkom-raised Nienaber chose the unusual route of taking a gap year in the army.

That’s where he met a young Erasmus, who was a friend’s roommate, and they hit it off.

Nienaber left the army after a year to finally study physiotherapy, but Erasmus stayed on.

The two would often bump into each other in Bloemfontein.

While he enjoyed the game, Nienaber readily admits that he wasn’t particularly good at it, playing loose forward for the Grey College seventh team as a distance runner who weighed a negligible 63kg at the time.

Becoming Springbok coach, a role the prominence of which can sometimes rival that of the state president, should be a tough challenge for Nienaber, who was reminded on Friday about specifically asking not to do media interviews when he first started working with the Boks in 2011.

“I saw my role as [being] similar to that of Wayne Smith. He was with the All Blacks for years as an assistant coach, but was never on the front lines regarding the media. The nice thing about that is you can focus on your job, do your analysis and talk to the players because you have time for one-on-one interactions.”

Well, he might have to pencil in time for an interview or two from now on.

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